1. Field of the Invention
A terminal block connector is provided for connecting a plurality of power supply conductors having a first cross-sectional area and a plurality of data inlet conductors of smaller cross-sectional area with a plurality of output conductors having a uniform cross-sectional area.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Terminal block connectors are known in the prior art for supplying power and data information to a plurality of electrical loads, such as electrical appliances, the heating and air conditioning control systems of a building, or the like. One problem that arises is the difficulty of simply and quickly connecting input conductors of different sizes and cross-sectional areas to a plurality of output conductors of uniform cross-sectional dimensions. For example, telephone and computer data input lines have a much smaller cross-sectional areas than 120 volt or 230 volt power supply conductors, and different considerations must be taken into account for connecting these lines to the output conductors. In the case of power supply lines, resilient terminals are normally used in the art, while data input conductors make use of jacks and plug connectors, such as the well-known RJ45 plug and socket connector. As a consequence of the very small diameters of the data input conductors, great care must be exercised during installation of equipment to avoid the breaking or rupturing of the data leads at the pint of contact, which breaking of an insulated conductor is not visible and is difficult to detect.
The present invention was developed to avoid the above and other drawbacks of the known connection devices, and to provide an improved terminal block connector for positively, quickly and safely connecting power supply and data input conductors to plurality of output conductors having a uniform diameter.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a terminal block connector for connecting a plurality of power supply conductors of one size and a plurality of data input conductors of a smaller size with a plurality of output conductors of uniform size. First and second connecting means are arranged within the terminal block for connection with the ends of the power supply and data input conductors that are introduced within the chamber via first and second terminal block inlet openings, respectively. Third connecting means connected with the first and second connecting means are arranged in a plurality of terminal block output openings for connection with output conductors of uniform size, respectively.
According to another object of the invention, the portion of the terminal block containing the outlet openings is in the form of a male plug with the outlet openings arranged in a row for connection with a female receptacle that carries the output conductors. Similarly, the data input conductors are carried by a data plug, such as the well-known RJ45 telephone plug, that is adapted for insertion within a corresponding socket connector mounted in an inlet opening contained in the terminal block. Locking means may be provided for locking the output plug with the terminal block housing.
In accordance with a more specific object of the invention, the first connecting means comprise resilient terminals that are connected with the ends of the power supply conductors and are connected with first tulip-shaped output terminals via bus bar conductors, respectively. The data input socket includes a plurality of data output contacts that are connected with second resilient tulip-shaped output terminals via conductors on a printed circuit board, and soldering pins that extend through holes in the printed circuit board. The groups of first and second tulip-shaped terminals are arranged within the terminal block output openings for connection with the output conductors, respectively. The terminal block may be of sectional construction and includes removable cover sections for the first and second connectors.
The present invention offers the advantage that the danger of rupture of the fragile data conductors is reduced by using specific plugs for the connection of the data lines. Furthermore, the invention provides a simple, fast and compact connection of the data lines by the use of prefabricated data plugs. The power supply lines remain individually separable and connectable. Conventional industrial power supply plugs can serve as the output plug fr the system.
A further advantage is that the data lines can be connected to and disconnected from the terminal block without disturbing the power supply connections. On the other hand, it is quite simple to disconnect both the power supply conductors and the data conductors from the electrical appliance or load. Thus, the customer""s appliance need not be altered in spite of a change in the connection technique on the input side of the terminal block.
Preferably, the output terminals are arranged in a row in strip-fashion on the housing, or are combined in a socket or plug strip, or as soldering connections on the terminal block housing. By the use of standard data plugs, the terminal block assembly is particularly resistant to damage by rupture due to vibration without any need for resorting to the use of conductors of larger diameter. The use of either an RJ45 plug or an RJ45 socket for the data line connections is within the scope of the present invention, and the male and female output plugs may be reversed as well, thereby to further reduce the danger of rupture of the data input lines.
Preferably, the first connector means for the power supply lines includes spring contacts, but other connections might be used as well, for example, crimping connections, screw connections, or IDC insulation-piercing contacts, or leaf spring contacts. By using hybrid connecting techniques, i.e., by employing different connecting techniques for the power supply and data input conductors, one can design variations in the connections where the power supply connections could be of the insulation-piercing type. The output plug connections could be a male pin strip, a female plug connector, an insertible printed circuit device, a SMT technique with soldering pins, or the THR technique.